Cable over road kills biker in new Venezuela unrest death

Opposition
supporters march protest against Nicolas Maduro's government in
CaracasThomson
Reuters

By Daniel Wallis and Tomas Sarmiento

CARACAS (Reuters) - A young supermarket worker was killed in
Venezuela when he rode his motorcycle into a cable stretched
across a road in at least the seventh death in 10 days of
political unrest.

Both sides are mourning supporters killed in the worst turmoil
since President Nicolas Maduro narrowly won an election in April
2013 to replace the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

The government blames "fascist groups" seeking a coup like the
one that briefly ousted Chavez in 12 years ago, while the
opposition is accusing troops and pro-Maduro militants of
attacking peaceful demonstrators.

Anti-government protesters have repeatedly blocked streets in the
area with trash, which they sometimes set on fire. Police and
National Guard troops have often used teargas to scatter
demonstrators before clearing away the obstacles.

In the latest death, officials said a 29-year-old man was killed
late on Friday when he rode his motorcycle into a cable strung
across a main road in the middle-class eastern Caracas
neighborhood of Horizonte.

"He was on his way home, he couldn't see the cable because of the
darkness, and it slit his throat," Interior Minister Miguel
Rodriguez Torres told state television.

"This was a young, hard-working man who had nothing to do with
the insanity unleashed by these fascist right-wing murderers,"
Torres said.

Five people have died from gunshot wounds, beginning on February
12 when three marchers were shot after a peaceful opposition
protest in central Caracas that degenerated into running battles
between riot police and hooded demonstrators.

Two other people were shot dead at protests around the country in
the following days, and a sixth was run over by a car during a
melee.

The focus for the most serious trouble has been in the western
states of Tachira and Merida, where the government has vowed to
take "special measures" to restore order.

Both sides planned marches in the two states on Saturday, but
residents said the situation appeared calmer, with no new reports
of clashes, injuries or arrests.

PEACEFUL RALLIES

In the center of the capital and in the provincial cities of
Lara, Aragua and Trujillo, thousands of government supporters
decked out in mostly Socialist red marched on Saturday at festive
rallies dubbed "Women for Peace."

Meanwhile, in Caracas just a few blocks from where the
motorcyclist died overnight, thousands of opposition supporters
gathered in the El Marques neighborhood to hear speeches and
chant slogans.

"We're against violence. This a peaceful march, 100 percent,"
said Juan Perez, a 25-year-old student, as he purchased a yellow,
blue and red hat - the colors of the Venezuelan flag.

Nearby, some opposition protesters waved large photographs of
suspected state security agents captured on video appearing to
fire pistols at demonstrators who were hurling stones at police
after the February 12 march.

Speaking at a news conference late on Friday, Maduro said he
would not defend anyone shooting at protesters.

"After I saw the photos I had them detained," he said, referring
to the agents, widely believed to be members of the national
intelligence service, Sebin.

"If any of them was involved in someone being wounded by a
bullet, or in one of the deaths, they will pay with prison. I
won't protect anyone who shoots anyone else at a demonstration,"
he said.

Maduro has publicly criticized Sebin for having agents on the
streets, and on February 18 he replaced its director.

The opposition are demanding that the president resign over
rampant crime, high inflation, shortages of basic products, and
what they see as repression of political opponents.

Maduro says the protests are a pretext for a planned coup,
similar to the short-lived one in 2002. However, there have been
no indications that the military, which was the decisive factor
12 years ago, would turn on him now.

On Friday, Maduro urged U.S. President Barack Obama to hold talks
with his government and suggested the two nations restore
ambassadors, just a day after his government slammed the U.S.
leader's comments on Venezuela as a "new, gross interference."

(Additional reporting by Girish Gupta and Brian Ellsworth in
Caracas, and Javier Farias in San Cristobal; editing by Gunna
Dickson)